Long History of Promotional Product

John
Pemberton, inventor of the instantly recognisable Coca-Cola, established
his dominance in the soft drink industry largely through the widespread
use of promotional product. Coca-Cola was one of the first brands to adopt
this strategy and in so doing helped revolutionise branding. Near universal
brand recognition helped "Coke" establish near total dominance
in the field.

Pemberton put his brand on anything and everything, which ensured that
Coca-Cola survived even after key franchisees broke away to form rival
brands. These rivals, such as "Yum Yum", used the winning Coca-Cola
recipe at a time when Pemberton's own son was adulterating the recipe
under the official name "Coca-Cola". But these other brands
failed to take off.

Coke's competitors simply didn't have the brand recognition. Something
Pepsi continues to struggle with even today. While the massive range of
Coca-Cola promotional products remain collector's items and continue to
be produced in staggering quantities.

Coke is just the most famous, and most successful, of the 19th Century
brands that embraced what was then called merchandising. The moment the
Industrial Revolution gathered steam in the early 1800's (and products
could be reliably mass produced) clever businessmen and entrepreneurs
the world over embraced this now tried and true branding strategy.

BrandNet deals with thousands of customers every year, among them some
of the most trusted national institutions in Australia. With over 20 years
experience manufacturing and marketing promotional products BrandNet has
the experience in branding.